BUSINESS IN BRIEF 16/11 Dong Nai hospital joins Hoan My Corp network The Hoan My Medical Corporation announced yesterday that it has welcomed Dong Nai International Hospital into its network. The hospital is the seventh member of Hoan My Group, which serves patients in central and southern Viet Nam. Other members are HCM City's Hoan My Sai Gon and Hoan My Tan Binh, Can Tho City's Hoan My Cuu Long and Ca Mau's Hoan My Minh Hai, as well as Hoan My Da Nang in central Da Nang City, and Hoan My Da Lat in the Central Highlands Lam Dong Province's Da Lat City. Dong Nai International Hoan My Hospital, located at 1048A Pham Van Thuan Street, Tan Mai ward in the centre of Bien Hoa City in this province, is the country's first private hospital and is equipped with modern facilities and medical equipment. Established in March 2013, the hospital has served more than 150,000 patients and provides medical service to more than 50 organisations in this province. More than 2,000 infants were born in the hospital in the last 12 months. Cut in gold jewellery export tax proposed The Ministry of Finance is proposing the cutting of the export duty on gold jewellery from 25 to 30 per cent to 0 to 2 per cent. Under the ministry's draft circular, gold jewellery that is below 95 per cent in purity will be exempted from the tax while those with more than 95 per cent purity will be assessed a two-per cent tax. Other Asian countries such as Thailand, India and China have trimmed down their tax on gold jewellery exports to zero, so their gold jewellery industry always has a high export value. For example, Thailand has an export turnover for gold jewellery of about US$3 billion per year while the figure is merely $500 million for Viet Nam. Meanwhile, analysts say Vietnamese enterprises are facing huge difficulties because they have not made appropriate investments in production and cannot control input material sources. As a result, they cannot compete with foreign companies in matters of pricing. According to current regulations, gold jewellery companies have to buy gold for roughly VND4 million per tael, which is higher than the average world price for the precious metal. They also cannot borrow money from banks to make jewellery. Industry insiders reveal that domestic enterprises also find it difficult to export their products because of the high export tariff and high cost of materials. Domestic gold jewellery is also forecast to face bigger challenges when the country opens its gold market in 2018, with no import tariff. According to the Viet Nam Gold Business Association, with a $3.5-billion turnover and a 25-per cent annual growth rate, the domestic gold market has become quite attractive to foreign investors. Anticipating the huge difficulties, a number of jewellery companies have left the market. It is estimated that roughly 70 per cent of 3,000 enterprises have either been dissolved or have stopped production to date. Big C helps boost sales of local farm produce Big C, the French supermarket chain, has expanded its special purchase programme that supports farmers by helping to boost sales of their farm produce. Included are oranges from Ham Yen, lychees from Bac Giang and Hai Duong and tomatoes from Da Lat. Nearly 700 tonnes of Ham Yen oranges are expected to be sold through Big C supermarkets this year. The supermarket chain says it will buy oranges at reasonable and stable prices and help advertise this product in the mass media and in supermarkets to boost sales. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's International Cooperation Department, only 0.2 per cent of Ham Yen oranges are being sold in supermarkets while 20 per cent are being sold in the locality and 78 per cent, in traditional markets of other provinces. Earlier this month, Big C also purchased 400 tonnes of tomatoes from Da Lat to help farmers there cut losses following a bumper harvest that pulled down the price of this farm produce. Ha Noi begins preparations to ensure supplies ahead of Tet Ha Noi is preparing to maintain adequate supply of price-controlled goods for the approaching Tet holiday (Lunar New Year) in mid-February 2015. The municipal department of industry and trade recently asked the concerned organisations to keep a close watch on the market to prevent any imbalance of supply and demand, scarcity of products and sudden price increases. The department estimated that the total retail sales in the city during the Tet holiday will increase by about 20 to 25 per cent, compared with the months of normal consumption, especially with regard to fresh food and vegetables. The prices of many products could increase closer to Tet due to higher demand in comparison with the other months. For instance, the price of rice is forecast to increase by one to three per cent and of pork by five to eight per cent. The prices of beef, chicken and seafood could rise by eight per cent to 15 per cent, while that of processed food could rise by 20 to 25 per cent. The consumption of beverages, alcohol and confectionery will increase closer to Tet, comprising 10 to 15 per cent of the total consumption during the Tet holiday. According to the industry and trade department's plan, companies will prepare adequate supply of price-controlled goods, such as 4,000 tonnes of rice, 900 tonnes of pork and 450 tonnes of chicken and duck, besides 5.5 million eggs, 200 tonnes of frozen seafood and 1.5 million litres of cooking oil, as well as 1,500 tonnes of vegetables, worth a combined VND276.75 billion (US$13.05 million). There will be 600 points of sale of these price-controlled goods, besides existing stores and supermarkets. Trade centres and supermarkets in the city have also agreed to increase their reserves of goods, worth VND2.3 trillion ($108 million), for the Tet holiday by 10 to 15 per cent over normal months. About 200 mobile shipments of price-controlled goods will be sent to rural areas and industrial zones. According to Ho Quoc Khanh, head of the trade management department, besides preparation of goods for Tet, the municipal department of industry and trade will increase market-watch activities to prevent smuggling and counterfeit goods. In HCM City, the total product value that companies plan to prepare for the months before and after the Tet holiday will be more than VND15.8 trillion ($745.3 million), up 109 per cent over the previous Tet. Among these, the total value of price-controlled products will be VND8.3 trillion ($391 million), nearly 70 per cent higher. Gyeongsangnam-Do (South Korea) and SMEs- TAC ink deal South Korea’s Gyeongsangnam-Do recently inked a deal with the assistance centre for small and medium-sized enterprises in the south of Vietnam (SMEs –TAC) in a bid to support Vietnam’s small and medium-sized enterprises and promote trade links between the two sides. The two partners will accelerate the activities to assist Vietnam’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) such as organising exhibitions to introduce products, sharing information networks among enterprises and export promotion, according to Nguyen Van Tuat, SMEs –TAC’s manager in the south. Gyeongsangnam-Do is a coastal province located in South Korea’s southern region.  It is the centre of the global shipbuilding and marine industry. The province also has other important industries like textile and garment, shoe, aircraft and car accessories. Meanwhile, SMEs- TAC is currently managing 300,000 SMEs in 22 southern provinces, having advatanges to update information about SME members quickly and comprehend the strengths of each southern province. “Therefore, this agreement can solve the weaknesses of Gyeongsangnam-Do and expand growth opportunities for SMEs,” said Tuat. Yang Eun Ju, the representative from Gyeongsangnam-Do, said his province was looking forward to improving its commercial viability due to the shortage of market information. “We hope Gyeongsangnam-Do will cooperate with more provinces in Vietnam and promote trade links between Vietnam and South Korea,” he said. The cooperation agreement is a major step forward in assisting the SMEs in both countries. VIB and Vietnam Railways enter in comprehensive cooperation The Vietnam International Bank and Vietnam Railways (VNR) yesterday signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement in which the bank (VIB) was authorised to serve VNR, including Hanoi and Saigon railways companies, and other subsidiaries. Under the agreement, VIB will provide various services such as train fare collection, cash flow management, financial risk mitigation solutions, operational cost optimisation solutions, and medium-and-long-term credit services. In the first phase, VIB will collect train fare for VNR. Particularly, from December 1, 2014 customers can pay their train tickets that they have booked online at VIB’s 53 branches and transaction offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Binh Duong provinces. Specially, during December 1-10, these 53 branches and transaction offices will be open from 8am to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday; meanwhile, customers can bank with these branches and transaction offices from 8am to 6pm on other days. This is aimed to ease customers’ payment for train tickets for Tet holidays 2015. The comprehensive cooperation agreement signed with Vietnam Railways helps VIB realise its vision to be one of the most innovative and customer-centric banks in Vietnam. “Vietnam Railways is a large corporation with an extensive operation network across the country. With this signed agreement, we hope that customers will get more benefits and convenience, especially on the occasion of Tet holidays when the travelling demand is extremely high,” said VIB CEO Han Ngoc Vu. Earlier, VIB signed comprehensive cooperative agreements with diverse partners to provide benefits to both personal and corporate customers, such as state budget collection for the State Treasury, import-export tax collection for the General Department of Customs, electricity bill payment for Electricity of Vietnam, and more. Founded in 1996, the Vietnam International Bank is currently one of leading commercial joint stock banks in Vietnam. The bank now has more than 3,500 employees serving over one million personal and corporate customers as well as financial institutions at nearly 160 branches and transaction offices in 27 key provinces and municipalities across Vietnam. DHL deploys new intra-Asia air routes DHL, the world’s leading cross-border express services provider on November 13 announced the launch of a new intra-Asia air route which connects the key economies of Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong with flights through big cities such as Hanoi, Bangkok and Hong Kong. The new air route will utilize a newly converted Boeing B737-400SF freighter featuring a gross payload of 21 tons and will be operated by K-Mile Air of Thailand, a partner of DHL with five flights per week. The new route will shorten the transit time for intra-Asia shipments to and from Hanoi to one day and help reduce congestion faced by DHL’s bustling hub in Hong Kong. George Berczely, general director of DHL-VNPT Express Ltd. in Vietnam said his company will continue to invest to maintain its leading position in the express service market in Vietnam and promote economic development in the northern Vietnam. Along with the opening of the new route, DHL also upgraded the air route Penang-Hong Kong-HCM City on November 7 from five to six days per week, which has contributed to increasing the capacity to handle the volume of shipments to 20% on this route. The increase in the number of A300-600F aircrafts is part of DHL’s intra-Asia dedicated network which enables customers from Penang and Ho Chi Minh City to have requested Saturday delivery services to and from Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, and Bangkok. In September, DHL unveiled its biggest investment of US$10 million in Vietnam with the opening of a 2,500sq.m service centre in HCM City. Taxi fares to reduce VND500-2,000 a kilometer Director General of Vinasun Company Ta Long Hy said that they would cut the fare by VND500 a kilometer from November 14. It would take them about ten days to reconfigure the taxi meters, he said. Representative of Mai Linh Group has also announced a fare reduction of VND500-2,000 depending on types of taxicabs and areas from November 14. In Ho Chi Minh City, Mai Linh’s new fares will be VND14,500 a kilometer for Kia Morning, VND15,800 for  Toyota Vios, VND16,500 for Toyota Innova J and VND17,700 a kilometer for Toyota Innova G. Hoang Long Company is expected to lower the fare by VND500 a kilometer from November 15 to 16. The companies’ move is in accordance with the Ministry of Transport’s instruction of cutting transport fee after consecutive reductions in petrol price. This is a trans-Vietnam tour and the tourists will go from Ha Long, Hue to Vung Tau within four days. The tourists will have chance to visit famous landscapes in Ha Long Bay and Hanoi before traveling to Hue city in the evening of November 13. Before finishing the tour on November 16, the tourists will visit Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City and My Tho city in Tien Giang province. One-stop-shop model to be applied at international seaports The national steering committee of the ASEAN one-stop-shop (OSS) mechanism launched a project to create national single windows (NSW) at international seaports. A single window allows trading partners to declare imports/exports when transiting to and from their respective countries at only one service point. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh highlighted the significance of the project, which comes at a time when Vietnam is becoming increasingly integrated into the world and securing trade ties with approximately 220 nations and territories. The adoption of NSW sets the scene for Vietnam to become one of the region’s leaders in terms of reforming and simplifying administrative procedures for import-export products, entrance and exit, and transit. Eight different ministries and sectors are involved in the procedure. They are expected to join the system and promote Vietnam’s prompt connection to the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) mechanism. The system will initially be applied at seaports in Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau. WB lends 500 million USD for grid transmission project The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the World Bank (WB) signed off on a loan for 500 million USD in Hanoi on November 12 to help the energy sector improve the efficiency of the national grid transmission. The money will be spent on the installation of more than 1,000km of transmission lines and the establishment of a smart electricity network in areas that are crucial for socio-economic development, including greater Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the Mekong Delta and the central region. Victoria Kwakwa, WB Country Director in Vietnam, said improving energy efficiency was key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the impact of climate change. The project will help contribute to 15 percent of Vietnam’s transmission network growth until 2020, prioritising investment in major economic development areas where transmission overloads are commonplace or could become common in the near future. It also supports smart grid technologies to monitor, control and protect equipment in order to improve the reliability of energy supply and reduce electricity transmission losses, as well as building the capacity of the National Power Transmission Company. The total required investment for the project was estimated at 731.25 million USD, with 500 million USD borrowed from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank’s lending institution for middle-income countries. The remainder is financed by the National Power Transmission Company under the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) company. Indonesia invests 14 projects in HCMC Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Le Hoang Quan yesterday welcomed Mr. Jean Anes who is the new Indonesia’s Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. At the meeting, Chairman Le Hoang Quan appreciated good traditional friendship relations between Vietnam and Indonesia in the past times. Both Vietnam and Indonesia have many similarities in the history of the national liberation struggle and share many common views over international and regional issues, the Chairman said. Chairman Le Hoang Quan expressed his pleasure at the fruitful development of relations between the two countries, especially, upgrading relationship to a Strategic Partnership, ensuring a high level of commitment from both sides in 2013. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has attracted 14 Indonesian investment projects with total trade turnover of over US$ 1 billion. VNN